The 2024 OCRS survey is open until 31 March, you can access it here: https://forms.gle/VwxYBaFhQLtbTiqy5
About the OCRS
Established in 2016, the Online Centre for Religious Studies aims to promote and facilitate the academic study of religion for a wide and diverse audience.
Study religion online
Our courses will take you from the basics of what a religion is (or isn't!), right through to a detailed exploration of the key faiths alive today.
Free resources
Download free digital resources for personal use, or to assist in the classroom.
On the question of money
24 January 2024 | Luke Burns
The OCRS has always been a project that I worked on for the sheer joy of it - and that has benefits and problems. The benefit is that when I work, I work with passion and enthusiasm, I go above and beyond to make things work well, to create something that’s both useful and pleasant. But that enthusiasm isn’t unlimited - eventually I burn out and need to step away. Furthermore, there’s no financial support to create or maintain the site and its resources - it’s all on me.
Religions are languages, not brands
9 October 2023 | Jonas Atlas
When we speak of religions today, they are often described like products in a supermarket: packages of beliefs, rules of conduct, symbols, and rituals, which are offered by specific brands. These brands advertise their own particular product range: reincarnation in the package of one religion, a heaven in that of the other; prayer in the package of one religion, meditation in that of the other; priests in the package of one religion, rabbis in that of the other.
What the Weltanschauung!?
20 June 2022 | Luke Burns
In June 2022 the Independent Schools Religious Studies Association (ISRSA) published a response to the 2018 proposal by the Commission on Religious Education to overhaul the subject of Religious Education, make it more academically focused, and rename it to Religion and Worldviews. We have previously covered the proposed change, and its challenges, here: Religion and Worldviews (24 February 2019). This article was updated by Luke Burns on 22nd June 2022